A Digimon Bedtime Story
by Gabriel-San
Summary: Once upon a time a queen and a knight were in love, a red-headed queen and a vulpine knight...


Ok, so I lied about doing a "Day in the life" story first. Sue me. I got this idea one night at about one o'clock in the morning and decided to run with it as far as I could manage. If you're reading this then obviously I ran all the way to the end. Unless this is still on my computer, in which case I really DO need to get a better Firewall. Anyway, enjoy my silly attempt to make a fairy tale.

**A Digimon bedtime story...**

**By: Gabriel**

Once upon a time, long ago and far away in a Kingdom lost to history there lived a Queen named Rika. Rika's parents had died when she was still very young, and left the Kingdom in her hands, for even as a child she was bright and capable. However, she could also be dark, moody and quite impulsive. The only people in the Kingdom who had any say in things were her advisors, Sir Henry and Sir Terriermon. But even they could only make recommendations. They had about as much influence over her as anyone else did, which is to say, almost none.

This Kingdom boasted a fine military. Ordered, disciplined, and highly trained, they helped to defend the Kingdom and to expand its borders when the need arose. This fine army was under the command of the bravest warrior in the land, and favorite knight of the Queen, Lady Renamon. No one ever dared to say such a thing to either of the parties involved, but most had an inkling that there was something more to their relationship than mere respect.

Lady Renamon's second-in-command was Sir Leomon, a fine warrior himself who would willingly wade into a horde of enemies for his love, the fair Jeri. The relationship seemed to work, despite many obvious differences, and the fact that it saddened Jeri to realize that some day Leomon might go off on a campaign and never return to her. But such is life at times, and such are the situations under which people must live.

One day out at the barracks, Lady Renamon was inspecting the troops when she happened to catch an off-handed whisper between soldiers.

"Did you hear? They say the Queen's sweet on the Lady there."

"Queen Rika hot for Lady Battleaxe over there? Come off it."

Lady Renamon shot up ramrod straight and stared in the direction of the whispering, trying to pick out exactly who spoke. "What was that? I heard whispering, and I heard what you said. Speak up this minute!"

No one dared to move, every face was deathly still, every body stood stiffly at attention. It was like looking at a row of statues.

"I heard two of you whispering slanders against your Queen and my own self. Now, the two who did it will step forward immediately or I shall be forced to punish all of you." Lady Renamon stalked down the line, watching faces and bodies, seeking a sign of some sort, a telltale quirk or shift. She stopped before one of the soldiers in the exactly spot she thought the whispering had originated from and stared the man straight in the eye. For a long moment nothing happened, then he very quickly looked down and looked back up again. Barely a movement, but it was all that was needed. Lady Renamon yanked him out of the line and shoved him against a wall. "So you're one of them! Tell me who the other was!"

The soldier shivered and cringed, too terrified to talk. However, he did manage to point to the soldier to his right. The man got a pained look on his face and started backing up. "You rat! How could you do this?"

Lady Renamon grabbed the other soldier and dragged him forward. "You two will be on the harshest duty that I can come up with every single day for a week. You will work your hind ends off. Then perhaps you'll think twice about whispering slander." Lady Renamon dragged the two away, quite aware that she was being watched critically by Sir Leomon.

Later on that day, after the inspection was over, Sir Leomon confronted Lady Renamon. "Don't you think that was a little bit much?"

"I don't think so. I want no dissention in the ranks. And whispering during inspection is rather rude to say the very least, to say nothing of the slander."

"Is it really slander, Lady? I've seen that picture of the Queen you have in your bedroll, and the hairpin you wear under your armor, right over your heart. If I'm not mistaken that's the royal seal on it."

Lady Renamon turned away, giving a small snort. "What's your point? So I have great respect for the Queen and the Kingdom. That's not a crime."

"Perhaps not, but it couldn't possibly be good to lie about how you feel."

Lady Renamon turned on her heel and poked at Sir Leomon's chest. "How could you possibly know how I feel?"

"I'm in love too, you know."

"Yes, but you can always say who you love. And you don't have to worry about coming to a sad end."

Sir Leomon stepped away to a window, and looked out over the parade grounds, past a field to a small house, that held his love Jeri. "Yes I do. You know that I might never come back from a war, and that would leave Jeri distressed."

"Perhaps so. But you will, at the very least, be dead. I, however, have no such guarantee. I might have to live and watch as some obscure law forces the Queen to marry or some conqueror or peacemaker weds her to maintain unity in the Kingdom. When love is forbidden the uncertainty can make you wish all you had to worry about is death."

"There is no law that states love like yours is forbidden. You know perfectly well of others..."

Lady Renamon cut in sharply. "It's not the same! Who ever heard of a Queen and a female Knight together. With no Heir to the throne the Kingdom would be in an uproar."

"There doesn't have to be an Heir you know. It's perfectly acceptable to leave no successor. In that case someone from the family would take the throne. If none are to be found then some noble would assume the throne."

"There's more to it than all that. There's also the fact that I simply am not sure what she feels about me. I think she has similar feelings, but have no proof at all."

"And you can't simply ask her, can you? That would be too obvious."

"If I am wrong, then I could be banished, or executed. There's no way to safely tell."

Sir Leomon shook his head a little bit and started to walk out. Before he left he offhandedly commented, "There's a big ball coming up. Sometimes you can tell how someone feels just by dancing with them..."

"Your Highness, I ask that you please take a look at the papers before you. These are important new laws." Sir Henry was on the verge of pleading with the queen, who sat behind a large desk looking supremely unconcerned.

"I'll get to them later. Just leave me alone."

"But... But Highness..."

"I said leave me alone."

"But... Yes Highness..." Sir Henry slipped out of the room quickly, closing the large double-doors behind him with a sigh. "Not a bit of progress. She's just as sullen and moody as ever and I don't even know why."

Sir Terriermon hopped over to the doors and started to open them up. "I'll see what's up..."

"Terriermon! No!" But it was too late. The rabbit Digimon was already in the room and the doors were shut behind him. "She's going to eat him alive."

"I thought I said to leave me alone." Rika had turned around in her chair, only the large back of the seat visible.

"It's me, Highness. Sir Terriermon. I'm here to ask what's going on."

"Nice try, bunny-boy. But you're not getting anything out of me."

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm not going to tell anyone."

Rika wheeled around in her chair, a picture frame held tightly to her chest. "Listen you lop-eared loser, I don't have to tell you anything. I'm the Queen around here. So just get out!" Rika threw the frame at Terriermon, narrowly missing him and shattering the glass against the floor. As Terriermon hopped out of the room he noticed the picture in the frame was Lady Renamon.

"Well, sounds like you did well."

"That was scary. She threw a picture frame at me! It was a picture of Lady Renamon, which seems rather strange since she was holding it to her chest..."

"What? Does that mean the rumors are true..?"

"Sir Henry! Get the royal glassblower in here on the double!"

"Yes my queen!"

As Henry scampered away, Terriermon poked his head into the room. "By the way, don't forget about the big ball coming up. Everyone is going to be there, including the highest ranked in the Army."

"There has to be a way to solve all our problems at once." That night three figured huddled together over a single candle, heads conspiratorially close. The one who had just spoken was Sir Leomon.

"Normally I wouldn't involve myself in a plot like this, but in this case I am inclined to agree." Sir Henry looked over his shoulder for the hundredth time, seeming to believe there was a platoon of soldiers just down the hall waiting for him to sound like a traitor.

"I have an idea. And no one has to get beheaded or chained up in the dungeon."

"Start talking." Leomon said, leaning in closer.

"Well, that big ball is coming up, and anybody who's anybody will be there. Including Lady Renamon."

"Brilliant. But how can we be sure they'll dance together? They don't want anyone to know how they feel about each other."

"I happen to know that Lady Renamon cannot resist a good tango. She has said as much a few times and I've seen her dancing with the Queen's picture."

"Yes... The Queen did mention something about the tango being a lovely kind of dance. Actually, she started saying that after Lady Renamon's last visit."

"Ahhh... I see. I'll get the royal musician right on it. I just hope Takato is awake right now. If things don't get set exactly right we're all going to have hell until the two of them figure something out." Sir Henry ran off down the various corridors of the castle, leaving the two Digimon still over the candle.

"What's interesting is that I implied the same thing to Lady Renamon just today. She caught a few of the soldiers whispering about the possibility of a relationship and gave them a week of extra-hard labor."

"Why didn't you mention that?"

"No need to. You did already. Besides, I'm not supposed to be an idea man. I'm just the muscle."

"Is that how Jeri sees you?"

"Jeri looks at me and sees the most perfect person in the entire world. And because of that I can be anything with her. Out here is another matter."

"Don't sell yourself short. Just try to be what you want. You'll probably make Jeri very proud of you."

Sir Leomon smiled and started away. "For a tiny annoyance you're pretty smart."

Terriermon blew out the candle and hopped off the table. "I do what I can when I can."

Takato looked over the sheet music before him, distributing the parts to the various musicians around him. "This is certainly an interesting piece. Nothing like anything we've done before. But it was a special request of the Queen, so we'd better do it right."

"Takatomon?" Gillmon stood off to the side wearing a fool's cap and carrying a stick with a mini version of his head on it. Obviously he got a job that suited his special talents.

"What is it Gillmon? I'm a little busy trying to figure out how to do a piece like this. I'm a waltz person, and this is a little beyond me."

"But I hungry Takatomon! I need food."

"Just take the hungry goof to the kitchen for a while. It'll take everyone some time to read through their music. Don't worry, how much havoc could we get into?" Impmon cradled his viola softly and grinned at Takato.

"Well... Alright... But if anything happens to that music then you'll learn the real meaning of havoc from the royal executioner."

Impmon grabbed his throat and made a gurgling sound, looking rather afraid, and with good reason. "Ehh... Yea... Well... Have fun..."

Takato took Gillmon by one of his hands and led him out of the room, down the twisting corridors of the castle and into the large kitchen, which was swarming with humans and Digimon preparing meals. Takato grabbed the arm of someone passing by him and drew him in. The one he had caught was his friend Kenta, looking rather disheveled and carrying a huge tray of freshly made bread.

"Takato, whatever it is this is a really bad time for it. We've got a million things to do before the ball tonight, and I just got through with this bread. It took me all morning."

"Do you think you could kinda sorta give the tray to Gillmon? He's a little hungry..."

"Yay! Bread for me!"

"Hold it! I just told you this took all morning. I'm not just gonna give this up. Give me one good reason why I should let all my work drop into his stomach."

"Because if I don't get him fed and lead a very long and challenging practice session then the Queen's personal musical selection will not go over quite right at the ball. And that means the Queen will be mad. Very mad. And she's gonna want to know who was the cause of it all..."

Kenta handed the bread tray to Gillmon and ran off into the depths of the kitchen, probably to make more bread and hide among the shuffle.

"Looks like you get fed, and I get to spend a couple of hours listening to everyone try and play a tango beat. If I'm lucky I'll die of a heart attack before the ball tonight."

Gillmon didn't pay attention to what Takato was saying, however. He was scarfing down the bread and shaking his stick around, making his fool's cap jingle.

"Your highness, it is time for you to come to the ballroom." Sir Henry bowed low and smiled, begging fate to give him just this one bit of luck.

"Just a minute. I'll be there soon."

"Yes Majesty. Oh, by the way, Sir Leomon and Lady Renamon are here to greet you before the ball begins."

Queen Rika looked suddenly very interested, sitting up in her throne and adjusting her wardrobe. "Send them in, Sir Henry."

Lady Renamon and Sir Leomon entered the throne room with a cool, indifferent air, though cracks appeared in Lady Renamon's facade whenever she looked up at the Queen.

"Welcome. I do hope you both enjoy yourselves at this ball. I know how much you do for the safety and well being of the Kingdom and for that I am truly grateful." Though she spoke to both of them Rika's eyes were locked directly on Lady Renamon's.

"Thank you very much, majesty. We try our best to make you proud... of our services." Lady Renamon kept her eyes likewise locked on the Queen's.

For several minutes no one moved, Sir Leomon because of rigorous training and knowledge of decorum, and Queen Rika and Lady Renamon because of the pure enchantment of gazing deeply into each other's eyes. However Queen Rika eventually had to break the gaze, knowing she had her duties to attend to. "Please, proceed to the ballroom. I will be there shortly..." She looked over Lady Renamon again, softly stroking the repaired picture frame beside her. "Count on it."

"Please don't act out, I beg of you. This is very important for me. Jeri and I very rarely get the chance to do anything like this. I beg of you not to crush people who start whispering." Sir Leomon looked pleadingly aside at Renamon. Though not usually given to such a thing this was an extraordinary circumstance.

"I can make no guarantees. I will do as I will do. If people choose to whispers then I must react. I am only a soldier after all." Lady Renamon stared straight ahead of her, never breaking her precise military stride at all while she both listened to and responded to Sir Leomon.

When the two of them arrived at the wide, tall doors to the ballroom Sir Leomon was met by Jeri, who shyly took his large hand and got into stride with him, Lady Renamon taking up a position in front of them both. Eager attendants opened the doors while a third announced them as they entered the room. "Lady Renamon, High General of the Army! Sir Leomon, Second in Command of the Army! Jeri, first in the heart of Sir Leomon."

Sir Leomon nudged Jeri lightly and smiled to her. "I paid him to say that. I hope you like it."

Jeri blushed deeply and gave Leomon a peck on the cheek. "Thank you. It was so nice of you to do that for me."

Meanwhile, Lady Renamon was weaving around people in the crowd, nodding to people who spoke to her and pretending to mingle. In reality she was just alone and knew it, all these people those she did not know and those who never thought of her as anything more than some killing machine. She was around to protect them all and nothing more. Her definition ended at that in the minds of the populace. There was only one who probably thought of her as something more and that was...

"Queen Rika! Mighty sovereign, able defender, Ruler of our land, Monarch of all she surveys!" Everything ground to a halt when Queen Rika was announced. Slowly, regally, the Queen entered the quieted room. She had on the same rather masculine outfit that she usually sported, hardly the garments of a Queen, but Rika was a very unconventional ruler. Queen Rika glanced quickly around the ballroom, locating Lady Renamon at once. It was hard to miss the Digimon, who stood off by herself and was taller than the others in the room. The crowd parted before the Queen, who made her way slowly over to Lady Renamon. Lady Renamon, who always had her eye on the Queen, nervously fidgeted with her tail as the Queen approached.

Up with the band stood Sir Henry, nervously watching the Queen and Lady Renamon. "Now, Takato, are you absolutely certain you have everything perfect?"

"For the thousandth time yes. It was tough, but I think we finally managed it."

"Good, good. Start the music now, and remember, if the Queen is unimpressed then it's your head."

Takato gulped and held his neck with one hand, lifting his baton with the other. Lightly he tapped it on the top of his music stand and the orchestra snapped to attention. With a wave of the baton the room was filled with the slow, quiet introduction to a tango, the music wafting especially noticeably past Queen Rika and Lady Renamon.

"Is that what I think it is?" The Queen looked up at the orchestra, quirking a brow in disbelief.

"I do believe that it is. How odd indeed. But such a lovely thing to hear." Lady Renamon looked around the rest of the people in the ballroom, who seemed unable to comprehend the music. Only Leomon and Jeri found themselves able to actually dance to the music, and even then they weren't that good.

"Sad, sad sad. This is a ball not a painting. Someone really needs to teach these people how to do it right."

"Shall we? Purely in the interest of educating those here, of course." Lady Renamon fidgeted with her hands, becoming more nervous as she presented the idea, though she tried to hide it.

"Certainly. I've been meaning to show you that I've been practicing. Just watch." Queen Rika Took Lady Renamon's hands in her and held them tight. The two of them stiffened their bodies and stared straight into each other's eyes, trying to focus even as every eye in the room fell upon them.

With their minds clearly on each other they began to move. Three slow, measured steps to Queen Rika's left, then three to Lady Renamon's, each one pressing them closer and closer together for apparent reason, other than they simply desired the closeness. Lady Renamon deftly spun Queen Rika once, the Queen fluidly moving around on the ball of her right foot. When she came to a stop she gave Lady Renamon a quick spin, the vulpine Digimon ducking to make it easier, her tail wrapped about her waist to cut down on resistance. They repeated the spins deftly, each one moving with fluid grace.

Next, Lady Renamon spun the Queen around twice, the second time taking a small step forward and holding out a hand at about the small of her back, leaving her leaning back hands above her head and reaching for the floor. They held that position for a moment, Lady Renamon's warm breath blowing softly over Queen Rika's neck. Though some unknown means they both straightened up at the same time, Queen Rika repeating the previous move with Lady Renamon. Though larger, Lady Renamon had a lithe figure that allowed the Queen to support her without difficulty.

When both were again facing each other and pressed together Lady Renamon gave the Queen a half-spin, holding her at the waistline and taking measured steps backwards and forwards. The Queen kept her eyes closed and leaned firmly against Lady Renamon's soft fur. When she repeated the move her lips were right beside Lady Renamon's ear. By that time the other people in the ballroom had gotten the hang of it and were dancing together, but with nowhere near the passion of Queen Rika and Lady Renamon. No one noticed the Queen's whispering, or how they slipped off quietly. No one except Sir Leomon, Sir Henry and Sir Terriermon.

The next morning the castle schedule ran as usual. An hour after daybreak a maid lightly tapped on the doors to the Queen's bedchambers. Receiving no answer, as usual, she entered with a cheery expression. "Majesty, it's time for your morning b... Oh my!" As the maid looked over the bed she discovered not one form but two. Lady Renamon lay in the center of the bed, on her back and blissfully asleep. Atop her, settled into the warm fluff there was Queen Rika, looking very content.

"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?" The maid shook Queen Rika until she awoke, rather groggy and looking like a person who had little sleep the night before, but had fun while not sleeping.

"What? What's wrong? What time is it?"

"I-It's time for your morning bath... Shall I send someone for her after you leave?"

"No, just let her be. But bring me the royal messenger. I have a notice to spread throughout the Kingdom. There's going to be a wedding..."

~Owari~


End file.
